Railways to have special safety fund of Rs 1 lakh cr

February 1, 2017, 4:24 PM IST

New Delhi : With railways plagued by repeated derailments, government today proposed setting up of a special safety fund of Rs 1 lakh crore that will cover upgradation of tracks and signalling besides elimination of unmanned level crossings.

The Railway Budget, merged with General Budget 2017-18, also provides for commissioning of new railway lines of 3,500 km will against 2,800 kms in 2016-17.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced the Plan size for the next fiscal for the Railways at Rs 1,31,000 crore as against Rs 1.21 lakh crore last year.